Douglas Camp Goes Primavera at October Gallery

 London, UK-based Nigerian sculptor, Sokari Douglas Camp, shows Primavera from April 7 – May 14, 2016 at October Gallery, London, U.K.

 

Primavera, 2015. Steel, gold leaf and acrylic paint, 201 x 72 x 162 cm. Photo: Jonathan Greet

The theme, Primavera brings together major new sculptures which focus on the reinterpretation of familiar figures from the European classical tradition. The large work Europe supported by Africa and America, recreates and adapts an 18th century engraving by William Blake. Other works reconfigure detailed scenes adapted from well-known Botticelli paintings, in which the instantly recognisable figures metamorphose into more modern icons of contemporary culture and society

Camp creates her works primarily in steel. Her often large-scale sculptures make frequent reference to her Nigerian roots, at the same time encompassing contemporary international issues. Douglas Camp is one of the winners of the memorial for Ken Saro-Wiwa in London, and was one of the shortlisted artists for the Fourth Plinth in 2003. In 2005, she was awarded a CBE in recognition of her services to art and she has had more than 40 solo shows worldwide. Her work is in the permanent collections of the National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institute, Washington, D.C.; Setagaya Art Museum, Tokyo and the British Museum, London.